Coon Rapids, Minnesota Mar 11, 2025 (Issuewire.com) - If there is one thing Marnie Thies would have changed about her teaching methods in earlier years, it would be to have students send her videos of themselves playing scales, musical repertoire, and other lesson items during the week. This helps Marnie Thies check for understanding and allows her to assess their strengths and areas needed for improvement. Sending recordings allows Marnie Thies and her students to focus more lesson time on current repertoire, which results in faster musical progress and improved violin technique.
Marnie Thies states, “Recording scales and arpeggios for my students during my earlier years of teaching would have saved my students and I time in the lessons as the recordings of both items begin with an explanation of fingerings to use then a play-through for each video.” When pitch is difficult for students learning scales and arpeggios, the play-through section of the videos on Marnie Thies’s YouTube channel, Marnie Thies Violin Lessons, allows students to play along with her so they can self-correct any pitch errors made while playing. Having access to this material familiarizes students with scales and arpeggios they study currently and in future lessons.
On Marnie Thies’s website, proviolin.com, there are Suzuki violin recordings for all ten books of Suzuki. Marnie Thies states, "I added this page to my website because I wanted students to have easy access to recordings of pieces they are studying. I wish I would have done that in my earlier years of teaching."
Over the years, Marnie Thies has learned the value of having Suzuki piano accompaniments or other violin accompaniments on her website as it better prepares students for recitals. By familiarizing and playing along with the piano accompaniments, students can feel more comfortable playing with the accompanist for the first time and at recitals. When students know the piano accompaniments, they are more relaxed when playing the violin, which leads to better musical performances.
Marnie Thies comments, “Another practice I have developed is scheduling a Meet and Greet before a student's first lesson. This allows me to gain insight on a student's personality, so I can adjust my teaching style accordingly and to answer any questions a student or parent may have. Meet and Greets give us an opportunity to talk about violin set-up, which includes rosin, a powdery substance that is applied to the bow hair, chinrest, and shoulder rest. All of these accessories can make a difference in the enjoyment of playing the violin. If a student does not own a violin, I can advise during the Meet and Greet what to look for in a violin, which can help them in selecting a suitable instrument.”
Over the years, Marnie Thies has broken her teaching down into smaller, more manageable steps. Doing so helps greatly with motivation when students can experience some success right away. This is especially important for younger students or any student who values immediate success.
Marnie Thies strives to refine her teaching technique as time goes on. She enjoys the impact it has on her students’ progress and is always looking for multiple methods to improve her teaching. She enjoys finding various ways of teaching the same thing as students learn the same things in different ways.
At the date of this publication, Marnie Thies gives online violin lessons and in-person lessons to kids and adults in St. Paul in the cities of Falcon Heights and North Oaks with Marnie Thies Violin Lessons. Marnie Thies looks forward to expanding her teaching locations to include the Anoka County area in cities such as Blaine and Coon Rapids. Marnie Thies has taught online since 2014 and more frequently since 2020. Her website showcases the progression of her student who began taking violin lessons online exclusively with Marnie Thies. Another video on her online lessons page highlights how her student learned vibrato solely through online lessons. To work with Marnie Thies, she can be reached through her website proviolin.com.
To learn more visit: proviolin.com
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